UINavigation controller problem - iphone

I'm developing an iPhone application and I'm trying to do this:
I want an application with tree views. The view shown first, doesn't have a navigation bar. If the user tap on a button, I need to open the second view with a navigation bar and a table view. The user can also add new items to the table view. If the user do so, the application will show the third view where the user can add fields (this view has also a navigation bar).
It may seem simple, but for me it is not. I don't know how to use the UINavigationController and have not found yet a similar example for what I do (paragraph translated by google).
UPDATE
I don't know how where to put UINavigationController.
How can I do that? Can I use a UIViewController to call a UINavigationController?
Thank you.

take a look at the Recipes example (it also uses core data which may confuse things a little) http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/samplecode/iPhoneCoreDataRecipes/Introduction/Intro.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/DTS40008913
There is also a simpler starting point here http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/samplecode/TableViewSuite/Introduction/Intro.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/DTS40007318 but the Recipe example covers just about everything you need.
EDIT:added the following
For the very simplest example use XCode to build a new application - a navigation based application (sorry, I'm in front of a PC today so that is from memory). That will give you a blank application with the navigation controller created. You then use the navigation controller to push and pop your view controllers

ViewController Programming Guide

Related

How to design multiple views in iPhone

I am making code for iPhone. My first screen has only one button with text Menu. When user will click on this button next screen is coming with multiple navigation bar.Each Navigation bar has their own Text information which are being selected after clicking on any Navigation bar.
How i should to design it for iPhone ? Please give me concept. Should i take multiple views ? If i have multiple views how will i hide and show on button click event ?
Thanks in advance.
You will have to adapt your user interface to comply to how Apple wants an app to work, look, and feel - or make your own custom viewcontrollers. Even then, you might not get the exact behavior you want.
My hottest tip is to look at similar apps on appstore and see how they are navigated.
I don't get a picture in my mind from your description, but it seems you want what is called "drill down". This is best done with tableViews.
You can't have multiple navigation controllers on the same "screen"; it doesn't work like that on the iPhone. Instead, what you have is one single Navigation controller, that controls the pushing of views. You decide which sub-view to push depending on which selection the user makes, and the Navigation controller handles the rest of the interaction with the user to let him or her navigate between the views.
Example structure:
Window-based app
+-MainWindow.xib
| +-First view with button
| +-UINavigationController
+-tableview1.xib
+-tableview2.xib
+-any more views you need.
Make the app delegate a <UINavigationControllerDelegate> and declare navCt *UINavigationController, and connect it in Interface Builder. You can then write a pushVC method, which takes as argument a UIViewController *vc. It does a [navCt pushViewController:vc animated:YES];
Connect the button to an IBAction, which then calls the method in the app delegate, [PushVC myVC], where myVC refers to any viewcontroller in your app, in this case table view 1.
In this table, on didSelectRow... event you can use the same method to push the sub-view table view 2.
I think this is minimum code if you are unsure about iPhone app design. Either way, I hope it gives some ideas.
You should read about UINavigationController, UITabBarController, UIViewController.
http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/uikit/reference/UIViewController_Class/Reference/Reference.html
You almost always make one view pr. viewcontroller.

Best starting point for an app where tableview/navigation controller is just one part

I've put together an app that uses a table view and navigation controller to display a list of documents (HTML docs) and by clicking on a document title will open up a detail view and display its contents. That works a treat but it will ultimately be part of a bigger app which will have a menu of which this would be just one of the options.
I've done a lot of digging around but am still unsure on the best approach to take for building the overall app. A lot of advice seems to be to use the navigation based application template and push out the menu view and hide the navigation bar but is this really the recommended way to go?
I've read the Apple docs and Modal View controllers sounds like they could be and option but I am then unsure how I would slot in my existing RootViewController etc?
Really appreciate someone taking the time to help get me on the right track
Cheers
Kieron
Using a navigation controller is a very common way of structuring this. And as you note, the nav bar itself can be hidden on some view controllers.
Be careful about presenting view controllers modally -- Apple's advice in the HIG is to use modals when you are focusing the user's attention on a certain piece of information or a crucial task -- don't just use them willy-nilly.

Is this a valid structure of an app

I have the following structure in my app, is this a correct/valid way of doing it?
UINavigationController attached to the window, the rootcontroller in this navigationcontroller is a UIViewController that presents a tableview. When a user taps one of the rows a UITabBarController is pushed on the stack.
This works, however I began to be unsure when I read this:
Because the UITabBarController class
inherits from the UIViewController
class, tab bar controllers have their
own view that is accessible through
the view property. When deploying a
tab bar interface, you must install
this view as the root of your window.
Unlike other view controllers, a tab
bar interface should never be
installed as a child of another view
controller.
This is not recommended, but it should be OK. The aweful Wordpress app also does this. This depends on the design of your app.
I'm not shure about Apple's approval.
The reason why this is not recommended (and thus might not get approved - now or at a later point!) is user confusion.
Users are used to regard the tab bar as top-level navigation. So if dig down using the table and navigation, and then getting a UITabBar, this is horrible for navigation as the user doesn't know what to expect.
The solution here, of course depending on the use case, is a "switch" in the navigation bar or a toolbar. UISegmentedControl would be a natural choice.

How do I access the view that is one level up from my current view in a navigation-based iOS app?

I'm diving into iOS development and am getting familiar with navigation view controllers. I'm trying to build a simple app with a table view that allows me to add objects to it. So far, I have a table view with an add "+" button in the nav bar that allows me to load my CreateObjectView and display it modally so the user can define the new object, but when they click the save button, I don't know how to send that object data back to the parent view that created the CreateObjectView that contains the object data.
When I create the child view (CreateObjectView), I could pass into it a pointer to the current view before I push it onto the nav stack, but this just feels dirty and circular.
I was reading about protocols and delegates and I could use that approach as well, but it also feels circular.
This question seems like it would be a common design issue to any tableview-based or nav-based app, how should I probably access the view that is one level up from my current view in a nav-based iOS app?
Thanks so much in advance for all your help!
It feels circular at first, but it is the right way. Before the UINavigationController pushes the new view controller you should set the delegate to the current view controller - assuming that's the object you wish to communicate with. Of course you could set it somewhere else instead, such as to a central Core Data handler. Then when you need to communicate call the delegate with the method you have defined. I've done several navigation apps like this after seeing Apple's cookbook example, and it really works well.

Moving a 'UITabBarController with UINavigationController' iPhone app to 'UITabBarController with UISplitView' on iPad

I have an app where the appDelegate has a UITabBarController. Each of the tabs has a navigation controller which I currently use to push a single detail view onto the stack in each tab. I am hoping to replace my navigation controller on each of the tabs with a splitViewController. I use the Interface builder to provide the UINavigationController for each tab. I am having trouble loading a nib for each tab that has a UISplitViewController in it. I am getting an instance of the UITableViewController class displaying on the screen, but I am not getting the UISplitviewController or the Popover or the detail view etc. These classes are all working in a standalone app, but I am not able to get them into each of the tabs in one app. Although I am currently using the Interface Builder I am open to doing this programmatically. If someone has suggestions, or an example small project of a Tab based app with individual split views in the tabs I would appreciate it very much. (As this is my first question I am not sure how much code or other pictures from IB would be helpful for me to post. If you need further detail please let me know and I would gladly amend this post.)
Apple documentation
"The split view controller’s view should always be installed as the root view of your application window. You should never present a split view inside of a navigation or tab bar interface."
Moving on...
Not only shouldn't you -- if you do so, an error is thrown when you run. It's impossible.